Playing Doctor
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: It's the last snow of the season, and Hatori and Kana intend to make the most of it.


Playing Doctor

"Hatori, wake up! It's snowing!"

Sohma Hatori lazily cracked open an eye. He had been in the middle of a very deep and restful sleep -- a rare occurrence when he was on-call twenty-four hours a day as the Sohma family's primary physician -- and was annoyed by the shaking that had woken him up, but his irritation disappeared the second he rolled over on his back and saw Kana's huge smile looking down at him like an angel.

How did he ever get so lucky? Before Kana appeared in his life, Hatori had resigned himself to the fact that he would never know a woman's love. It was the nature of his family's curse: very few "outsiders", as the members of the Zodiac referred to those who lived beyond the Sohma compound, were able to accept the fact that if hugged by someone of the opposite sex, the cursed would transform into one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Even Hatori's late mother had treated him coldly, unable to hug and cuddle him like other mothers did their own, uncursed children.

All that had changed the moment Kana had walked into his office to start her new job as his assistant, however. She truly was the spring that had melted the coldness surrounding his heart.

"Hatori," Kana said, sounding as if she had been repeating his name for several minutes. "Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" Rubbing the last remnants of sleep from his eyes, Hatori sat up. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Kana rolled her eyes. "I was trying to tell you that it's snowing. Come, look outside. It's so beautiful!"

As she ran to the window looking out onto the yard, Hatori yawned and stretched out his arms and legs. The late March morning was colder than usual, so he grabbed the top to his pajamas and his robe, pulling them on before joining Kana.

"What's this about snow?" he asked, coming up behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders. Hatori longed to be able to hold her closer, to wrap his arms completely around Kana and never let her go, but this was as close as he dared, in fear of triggering the transformation.

Kana nodded toward the window. "See for yourself."

For the first time, he looked out the frosted window at the winter wonderland outside. The yard was already covered in a soft blanket of snow, and a flurry of snowflakes fell gently to the ground. It looked more like early January than it did almost springtime.

"Huh, it's unusual for it to snow here so late in the season," Hatori commented. "It'll probably be the last time."

"Then spring will come, won't it?"

Hatori smiled, reminded of their first meeting. "Yes, then spring will come," he agreed, kissing the top of Kana's head. Privately, though, he felt it was already spring in his heart.

"Since it's the last snow, we should really make the most of it." Turning around, Kana tapped her chin in contemplation. "It's Sunday, isn't it? That means the office is closed. We can have our own private snow day, just like when we were kids and school was cancelled."

"Akito-sama may still summon me, though," Hatori reminded her with a frown. "He tends to fall ill in this kind of weather. In fact, I should probably start heading back to the compound before he realizes I'm gone."

Kana let out a heavy sigh. "I know he's head of the family and all, but it's so unfair of Akito-sama to monopolize your time like this. It's not like he owns you."

"But he does, Kana. Akito-sama is more than just the head of the family to those who are cursed; he is our god, and it is our duty to obey his every command."

"I know, but…"

"Listen, just let me check in on him to see how he's doing," Hatori suggested. "If Akito-sama is doing well, I'll come back, and you can have me to yourself for the rest of the day."

Kana brightened. "Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

Two hours later, Hatori left Akito's room, barely managing to conceal the smile on his face as he passed Akito's maid on his way back to his car. Members of the Zodiac were rarely happy upon leaving their god -- even those who hated to be in Akito's presence, like Yuki -- but Hatori had just given the head of the family a clean bill of health, which meant he was free to spend the entire day alone with Kana. If it wasn't so uncharacteristic of him, he might have begun skipping with glee.

Just as he was about to get in the car, however, Hatori's cell phone began to ring. He was tempted not to answer it, fearing that it was one of his patients, but the oath he had taken as a doctor would not let him ignore it in good conscience. Silently cursing his bad luck, he pulled the phone out of his coat pocket and got in the car where it was warm.

"Moshi moshi," Hatori barked, answering the phone while he brushed the snowflakes off his clothes. "Dr. Sohma Hatori speaking."

"Boy, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," a voice he knew all too well trilled. "Bad morning?"

Hatori rubbed at his temple. "Shigure, I swear if you're calling to tell me you've caught a cold, I'm going to poke at you with the longest, thickest needle I own, and I _will _miss the first three times."

"You're so mean, Haa-san!" Shigure pouted. "And here I was thinking of inviting you over for a drink. There's nothing like warm sake to warm a body up during a cold, frigid snowstorm."

Sighing, Hatori opened the glove compartment and pulled out a cigarette. "So you're not sick?"

"I'm as healthy as a horse -- or should I say a dog? Going by Rin-chan, horses are rarely healthy."

"As long as I don't have to deal with any illnesses today, you can say you're as healthy as an elephant, for all I care," Hatori said as he lit his cigarette, relieved that he wouldn't have to make a house call on his way back to Kana's.

"Why? Do you have plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I do, and I'm running late."

"Say no more. Far be it from me to stand in the way of romance," Shigure declared. "Besides, without you here, that means more sake for Aya and me."

"Just don't go overboard."

"Us? Go overboard? You have far too little faith in us, Haa-san."

"Good-bye, Shigure."

"Wait, Haa-san --"

With that, Hatori flipped close his phone and started the car, certain that tomorrow morning, he would get another call from Shigure, complaining of a hangover.

* * *

During the short time Hatori was gone, the snow had begun to pile up. When he had left Kana's, small patches of green had still been visible on the ground, but by the time he had returned, her entire front lawn had been covered by a thick layer of white powder. Hatori left a trail of footprints behind him as he trudged up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

There was no answer.

Confused, and a bit worried, Hatori found Kana's key on his key chain and opened the door. "Kana?" he called out, slipping off his shoes and hanging his snowflake-dusted coat and scarf in the entryway.

"In here."

The voice, which sounded weak and congested, seemed to be coming in the direction of the bedroom. Hatori followed it, frowning when he opened the door and saw Kana, bundled up in what seemed like every blanket she owned, in bed, blowing her nose.

"Kana, what happened?" he asked, immediately coming over and placing his hand on her forehead. "You're burning up!"

"I'm sorry, Hatori," she apologized. "It came over me all of the sudden. I mean, I had a light fever this morning when I woke up, but I was so excited about the snow…"

"You should have told me."

"I know. I guess that means our snow day is cancelled."

"It doesn't matter." Gently, he pushed her back into a laying position, pulling one of the blankets up to her shoulders. "You just get some rest. Have you taken any medicine?"

She shook her head. "I don't have anything on hand, and it's too cold and icy out there to walk to the pharmacy."

"I should have something in my bag. I'll make some soup so you can take it. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Hatori headed to the kitchen, where he managed to find a can of chicken noodle soup. He wasn't especially handy in the kitchen, since the Sohma servants usually handled the preparation of his meals, but it wasn't difficult to heat the soup up. He then dug around in his medical bag until he found a bottle of cold medicine, placing a couple of the pills on a breakfast tray, along with the soup, a glass of lukewarm water, and a couple of pieces of slightly-burnt toast.

When he returned, Kana was still awake. She sat up and allowed him to place the tray over her legs. "Thanks, Hatori," she said as he sat down beside her on the bed. "You always take such good care of me."

"I am a doctor. It's my job."

"Yes, but today was supposed to be your day off, until I had to go and ruin everything with this stupid cold," Kana said, sighing as her gaze wandered to the window. The storm was beginning to let up, but it was still fairly heavy. "I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," he insisted. "You are the one patient I will never mind nursing back to health."

"I still feel bad, though. I was really looking forward to our snow day."

"To be honest, I'm not so disappointed," Hatori admitted to Kana's apparent surprise.

"You're not?"

Smiling, Hatori shook his head, then leaned over to give Kana a lingering kiss.

"You see, I always did prefer playing doctor."

DISCLAIMER: "Fruits Basket" is the property of Takaya Natsuki.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This fic was written for the 15pairings community at LiveJournal, Theme: Snow, and the 2008 Spring Challenge at .moon, Theme: Weather.


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